


twenty third impression

by legobricked



Series: sugary impressions [2]
Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-21
Updated: 2014-02-21
Packaged: 2018-01-13 06:31:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1216126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/legobricked/pseuds/legobricked
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gaius indirectly confronts the tactician about the strange airs and facades she puts around him. Takes place between the B and A support.</p>
            </blockquote>





	twenty third impression

**Author's Note:**

> x-posted from here: http://otomeemblem.tumblr.com/post/66075010906/twenty-third-impression-1290-words-chars-river

He wasn’t sure what to make of the Shepherd’s tactician. After the bath incident and the subsequent failed bribing with the crate of books, Gaius was stumped. He was concerned about the woman, but he was uncertain if it was because of the sensitive information she contained or the strange airs she put on around him. Many times he tried to convince himself it _was_  the sensitive information, but often did he find himself strangely… perturbed at River’s insistence to play pretend around him. The fact that she knew about his tattoo couldn’t plausibly explain his annoyance, so Gaius did some snooping.

Upon further observation, Gaius found out that the airs were not limited to him, but to most everyone on the camp. It seemed that River only dropped her act around Tharja, Henry, and Cherche (and he suspected Libra, for she visited him often in the evening for what Gaius assumed to be some late night confessions). An interesting selection of people, but Gaius wasn’t so concerned over that. Though he knew the tactician wore her charm much like an expensive string of pearls, Gaius was curious as to what face the woman was hiding.

(Whenever Gaius found her with any of the previous three aforementioned people, she always found him spying called to him. She was a sharp one, indeed.)

Since spying and eavesdropping wouldn’t work on the tactician, Gaius decided that a direct approach was the next best move. He found her sitting underneath a tree, a tall stack of books standing nearby.

"River," he called to the distracted woman, "would you mind some company? I come bearing gifts." Gaius offered chocolate with a flourish, and the woman accepted with a cool glance.

"You won’t need to eavesdrop on me until after dinner. I’ll be visiting Tharja’s tent then," River joked. She glanced at the sheepish grin Gaius wore before returning to her book, a soft smile gracing her lips.

“How’d you always manage to spot me anyways? I do consider myself one of the best of my field,” Gaius asked. He took out another piece of chocolate to munch on as River did the same.

“I don’t doubt your skills, Gaius. But you’d think with hair as conspicuous as yours, you’d take more care to hide it,” River pointed at her hair for emphasis. “I knew you weren’t being serious anyways, so it was easy enough to spot you.” Gaius, suddenly feeling self-conscious, held some strands of his hair out where he could see them. Upon River’s light chuckle, Gaius frowned. A comfortable silence passed between them as Gaius continued snacking on his sweets and River read her books.

Then, Gaius gradually became curious as to what the tactician was reading. Before long, Gaius head hung closely to River’s. Much too closely for her comfort, it seemed, for she moved both the book and her head slightly away from him and asked, “Is there something you need, Gaius?” Her tone, while polite, contained a strong annoyance Gaius did not miss. He quickly shot his head back and coughed into his hands, muttering an embarrassed “sorry” underneath his breath.

River merely sighed, returning her book to the tall stack. As she propped her elbow on the books, River looked at Gaius for him to answer her. Gaius sighed as well, and he began to chuckle.

“Strange how I manage to lose my cool with you around,” Gaius turned away from River, who continued to stare at him with a look prodding him to continue.

“You don’t need to put airs around me, you know,” Gaius finally said. Though she remained largely complacent at the remark, River’s eyebrows raised slightly.

“I don’t understand what you mean by that, Gaius,” she replied with that fake charm of hers. Gaius glared at her in annoyance, a strong frown upon his lips.

“I know you’re not as innocent as you act. So you don’t need to pretend around me,” Gaius explained. “I know you’re not a goody-two-shoes like our dashing prince Blue.”

River smiled at the last comment, “Well then, Gaius, would you like me to be honest with you?” She straightened up and stretched her arms above her. “To be quite honest, I’ve always thought of you as an obnoxious pig-face ginger who couldn’t get a clue about when to shut up even when someone outright tells you to.”

River wasn’t sure if he was taken aback by her comment or not; all he did for a good few seconds was just blink at her. But just when she was about to play it off as a joke, Gaius complained, “Do you have something against redheads?”

Now, it was River’s turn to blink at Gaius. After a pause of her staring at the thief with a frown on his face, a snort came out of her and she began laughing loudly. Though Gaius told her he was serious about her prejudice against redheads, Gaius couldn’t help but grin.

“I guess if that’s all you have to say about that, I really don’t have a reason to put airs around you,” River smiled again and wiped a tear from her eye. “But don’t let me find you crying to yourself at night because ‘River was being a big meanie!’” she teased.

Gaius scoffed and told her, “It’s gonna take a lot more than that to make me cry myself to sleep.” He grinned again. He really was surprised at that comment she made earlier, he was actually a bit hurt by it. But seeing her true side was worth much more than the wounded pride, he figured. Besides, he’d have plenty of time to improve her opinion of him (and successfully bribe her to keep mum about the tattoo, of course).

Whether she was psychic or it was obvious on his face, River shot him a suspicious glare and asked if he was thinking about bribing her about the tattoo again. Gaius casually waved off her suspicions, though inwardly he became worried at how sharp this woman was at reading his thoughts.

“You gave me your word to keep quiet, right? I’ll respect that,” Gaius said, though the smirk on his face told River otherwise. River just rolled her eyes at him, getting up to dust herself off.

“Well, it looks like I won’t be able to get any reading done with you around. I’ll be heading off to my tent then,” River picked up her books and walked away from Gaius, who was sad to see her leave so soon. However, River made one last turn and warned Gaius, “Follow me and you won’t need to worry about your conspicuous hair giving your position away. Have a good day, Gaius.” She nodded her head to him with another one of her charming smiles and walked off. She called out to Henry who happened to pass by, and he helped her carry her books to the tent.

Gaius found himself blinking owlishly at her open threat. He finally snapped out of his trance and chuckled to himself. Even though he asked for her to be more honest with him, it would take Gaius some time to hear such frightening remarks from the usually pleasant tactician. He suddenly remembered the last time they talked, after River refused his crate of rare books, and the pendant she eyed in the market. Though she  _strongly_ informed Gaius she wasn’t interested, Gaius couldn’t help but think it would be a good gift for her.

_Maybe if I… But a pendant? And after so long…_

Gaius continued thinking to himself under the tree as he ate some more of his sweets, his thoughts never straying far from the strange tactician he continually found himself drawn to.


End file.
